Fox Stanton Track Reopens on South Field

The track, located on Caltech's South Field, had been closed for nearly a month for renovations to upgrade the surface and improve athletes' safety. Betsy Mitchell, director of athletics, physical education and recreation, says, "The surface was dry, brittle, and literally cracking apart."

The new polyurethane surface is now softer and safer for athletes, she notes, and it is also bright orange—a shade shared by only two other tracks in the United States, and the only one of its kind in higher education.

After a brief opening speech by Mitchell, the students, faculty, and community members in attendance took a commemorative first lap to celebrate the renovations. Runners stopped a few meters from the finish line to wait for those who chose to walk the new track, and everyone crossed the finish line together.

The Fox Stanton Track is named in memory of William L. "Fox" Stanton (1874-1946), who was Caltech's athletics director and coach of the Institute's football, cross country, and track and field teams from 1921 to 1941. He was inducted into the Caltech Athletics Hall of Honor earlier this year. His son, W. Layton Stanton (BS '27, PhD '31), helped raise funds for the original track back in 1986.